Choose the basis for your entry
The master craftsman certificate is not the only route. The statute knows four, and one of them requires no examination from the owner at all.
✓ Verified: 11/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
› Details and tips
The technical manager route looks convenient but ties the business to one person: if they leave, the basis of the entry disappears. Put that in writing beforehand.
The four years in a leading position count by content, not by job title. A reference saying you independently ran an area and were responsible for orders weighs more than the word foreman.
Useful Tools
- Anerkennung in Deutschland education
Federal portal on recognition of foreign qualifications: which authority handles your profession and what to submit.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do you have to be a master craftsman yourself? ▾
No. The owner is entered where the technical manager meets the requirements for the craft in question or a related one. A business can therefore be opened by someone without the examination who engages such a manager.
Who is entered on the basis of education without the master examination? ▾
Engineers and graduates of technical universities and of state or state-recognised Fachschulen, for the craft matching the focus of their examination. The same applies to anyone who passed another state examination recognised as at least equivalent.
What is journeyman authorisation? ▾
The right to run the business without a master certificate: it requires the journeyman examination in that craft or a related one and six years of work in it, four of them in a leading position. A position is leading where independent decision-making authority for the business or a substantial part of it was delegated.
How do you prove the leading position? ▾
The statute names references and job descriptions and allows other evidence. In practice: collect papers from former employers early, not ten years later.
Is it true this route does not exist for every craft? ▾
Yes, it is expressly excluded for cases number 12 and numbers 33 to 37 of Anlage A — chimney sweeps and the health-related trades of opticians, hearing aid acousticians, orthopaedic technicians, orthopaedic shoemakers and dental technicians.